With two victories, a No. 5 ranking in both the media and coaches polls, 109 points scored and just six points allowed by the varsity defense, Brownstown Central’s football team has started its season about as well as can be expected.

Head coach Reed May suggested pumping the brakes on any building excitement around his team, however, given his team’s early season schedule.

“We haven’t beat a team that’s won a game yet,” May said. “Both teams we’ve played (Corydon and Charlestown) are struggling. They’re both 0-2. Even our scrimmage (opponent), Bedford, is 0-2. Like our coaches pointed out to the kids on Monday, we haven’t beat anybody. Until we start playing a little better competition, we don’t know how good we are. We’re happy to be 2-0. We’re happy we’ve dominated. But realistically, we know we’ve got a long way to go until tournament sectional time.”

The Braves’ next opponent, Eastern (Pekin) boasts a victory. The Musketeers travel to Brownstown on Friday (7 p.m. kickoff) with a 1-1 record.

Eastern defeated West Washington in the season opener, 21-6, its first win over the Senators in 13 years. Last week, the Musketeers were blanked by No. 17 Tell City, 49-0.

“Eastern had some early turnovers that kind of got the game out of hand,” May said. “They’ve got a new coach (former Jennings County coach T.J. Newton) who does a great job with the Wing-T offense. They’re a lot more physical this year, a lot more disciplined.”

May brought the Wing-T to Brownstown 30 years ago and has run various flavors of the offense over the years. That experience should give the Braves’ defense an advantage on Friday.

“We have a little bit of a clue about the Wing-T,” May quipped.

The Musketeers are averaging 164 rushing yards per game this year and are led by senior fullback Brayden Jones, who ran for 143 yards and a touchdown in the win over West Washington.

Eastern’s most imposing presence is 6-foot-9, 330-pound lineman Aidan Miller, who has received offers from Miami (Ohio) and Marian University in Indianapolis.

“They’ve got some big kids,” May said. “They’re a big physical team that we’ll have to play well to beat. It’s one of those games that we just want to worry about ourselves and get better each week of the season.”

Brownstown has never lost to Eastern since the Musketeers started their football program in 2007. In their 16 meetings, BC’s average margin of victory has been 38.6 points. The closest game between the two schools was the Braves’ 48-28 win in 2022.

Like Eastern, Brownstown will employ a run-first offense. The Braves averaged 315 yards on the ground in their first two games, led by senior back Gregory Hutcheson’s 266 yards so far this season.

Hutcheson ran for 217 yards in the Braves’ first game against Corydon. In last week’s game against Charlestown, Preston Garrison stepped forward with 265 all purpose yards in a performance that included an 83-yard touchdown reception and a 76-yard punt return for a TD.

After a 70-yard passing effort in BC’s first game, quarterback Micah Sheffer threw for 117 yards versus Charlestown.

While Friday’s game is Eastern’s first Mid-Southern Conference game, Brownstown is already 2-0 in MSC play. Silver Creek also owns a 2-0 record and is the league’s only other undefeated team.

Players of the Week

Offensive Back: Micah Sheffer

Offensive Line: Sloan Stuckwisch

Defensive Line/MLB: Owen Wischmeier

Defensive Back/Dime: Roshaun Hehman

Special Teams: Preston Garrison